Stage Review - Murder on the Orient Express (BCT)

Stage Review - Murder on the Orient Express
Presented By: Bremerton Community Theatre (BCT) - Bremerton, WA
Date Reviewed: Friday, June 9, 2023
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Few directors are synonymous with a specific genre, especially in Kitsap County, more than Jeffrey Bassett is with the murder mystery. For a few years now, if there’s a murder on stage and a detective determined to find the culprit, it’s likely that Jeffrey is pulling the strings. His soft spot for Agatha Christie is apparent, and his ability to transport audiences to far off locations uncanny. In the last five years alone, he’s taken us to English estates (Mousetrap), Middle Eastern deserts (Appointment with Death), and even through time (Go Back for Murder). His latest go round with the “Queen of Crime“ is onstage now at Bremerton Community Theatre and takes audiences from Istanbul to Yugoslavia aboard the famed Orient Express. The play, arguably more famous (infamous for sure) than the train itself, aims to determine who committed a railway murder in the 1930s, but moreover the production aims to solve the mystery around how to tell a familiar story in a unique and fresh way, one that keeps experienced audiences engaged while introducing newcomers to a classic whodunit in an easily digestible way.

In typical Agatha Christie fashion, the author has assembled an eclectic group of foreign nationals into a small space, has thrown in a murder, and lets the sparks fly, all under the watchful eye of her famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The passengers on the train are a veritable bouillabaisse of nationalities. Beyond the Belgian Poirot, there’s the Scottish colonel James Arbuthnot and his English companion Mary Debenham, Russian Princess Natalya Dragomiroff and her assistant Greta Ohlsson from Sweden, Hungarian Countess Elena Andrenyi, and a few Americans to boot, Samuel Ratchett, Hector MacQueen, and Minnesotan Helen Hubbard. Add to that the the fellow Belgian Constantine Bloc, who works for the Wagons-Lits company, operator of the Orient Express, and is a longtime friend of Hercule Poirot, and the French crew and it’s clear that this is truly a mishmash of personalities if not cultures. In true Christie fashion, each of the characters seems to have something to hide, and Poirot recognizes that immediately, so when there’s a middle of the night murder on the train, everyone is immediately a suspect. It might be the murder that gets everyone’s attention, but its the ups and downs of Poirot’s investigation that make the story, of course, the audience confident that at the end there will be a satisfactory conclusion.

Stories as familiar as this present a unique set of challenges to a director. There’s that balance between how you feel the story should be told and falling into a trap of telling it the same way it’s been done countless times before. This is an old story, first published in 1934, and between the recent Kenneth Branagh film and the plethora of stage versions, including another earlier this year at Tacoma Little Theatre, it’s one that is hard to surprise people with. Many are aware of the ultimate outcome, so putting a show like this up becomes not a matter of what, but how; how to keep it unique while staying true to the story. A lot of this comes down to the little things, and if anyone knows how to get the little things right, it’s Jeffrey Bassett.

The show begins, after curtain up, with a piece that provides a bit of backstory. This is a hard one to get right, it’s something that needs to be put out there, but it’s also something that doesn’t really flow into the story once it gets going. No matter how it’s done, it tends to feel disjointed, and to be frank this did a bit as well, though as I said, I’m not sure how it couldn’t feel that way, it’s just the nature of throwing something out and asking the audience to grab it and keep in its collective back pocket for later. In this production, this backstory scene is presented via a short video, after which Hercule Poirot appears to provide his context to the impending trip aboard the Orient Express. The video itself is fine, though it feels abrupt at its end and it requires the audience to do a little context switching, from one medium (film) to another (stage).

Once Poirot hits the stage, though, the quality of what the audience is about to see is clear. Adrian DeGroot plays the Belgian in this production, and he is good, very good. Adrian captures the mannerisms we expect from Poirot. He’s neat, almost obsessively so, carries himself with dignity and posture, and is clearly intelligent, though not so humble. Adrian’s characterization is spot on, from his brilliant accent to the way he moves and interacts with others. He’s also quite humorous. This show goes all in on the humor inherent in the story and this strange combination of characters. While some productions might leave it at the witty dialogue, this group manages to up the game with facial expressions, physical comedy, and then Jeffrey ties it together with some tricks with light and sound that bring out more laughs than I’ve experienced in any Agatha Christie telling, all this while not losing the heart of the storytelling. It’s a balance, and this production works right on that razor’s edge. Adrian’s Poirot owns the stage, putting others in their place when he has to, and maintains control over the entire proceeding.

Each of the cast of characters here contributes equally to the suspense, the storytelling, and the humor, none more so than Kristi Ann Jacobson as Helen Hubbard. With a strong upper Midwest accent, she’s a bit off the wall, flirty, and fun. Speaking of accents, each actor, to a person, is on point. Kristopher Jones’ Scottish accent as Colonel James Arbuthnot is excellent, and he looks the part, bushy red beard and temper to boot. Donna Mozingo’s Russian maybe the most subtle of the group as Princess Natalya Dragomiroff, but it’s clearly there, as is Anne Biglow’s Swedish as Natalya’s companion Greta Ohlsson. Josi Twight’s Hungarian as the Countess, Alyssa Hersey’s English Mary Debenham, and Miah Campbell’s mafia-like New York accent are all strong, it’ clear that each actor has done their homework, on accent and caricature. Additionally, the accents aren’t just good, there’s no loss of comprehension, something that can easily happen when those are made a priority. Even with Kristopher’s thick Scottish, there’s never any doubt as to what’s being said.

There is good chemistry among the group as well. With the exception of Josi’s Countess, Ted Schroeder’s conductor Pierre Michel, and Travis Johnson’s head waiter, each character is paired off with someone. That chemistry helps with the delivery of not just the dialogue, but the humor. It also helps the overall pace. Most of the show takes place within the confines of the Orient Express itself. Previous to that, as the show begins, after the introductory video and Poirot monologue, there is the Tokatlian Hotel restaurant, where we first meet the detective along with some of the other passengers. We also learn about his friendship with fellow Belgian Constantine Bouc, played here by Matthew Bradberry. Matthew plays Bouc well, the director of the company that owns the Orient Express and the one able to get his friend passage on a train that is oddly sold out in first class. Bouc is eager to please, and as situations unfold on the journey, his anxiety continues to creep up and up. Matthew captures this all, the anxiety along with the command of his crew. From the Tokatlian, the stage transforms into a train platform, on which the passengers greet conductor Pierre before entering the carriage through a center door. The set piece is quite impressive. It’s big and it truly conveys what it is trying to, the entry point for everyone’s journey. Once the door closes and Pierre waves the all clear, the real journey begins.

Subsequent to that scene, after the large set piece is lifted, the audience is treated to a uniquely imagined and crafted piece of stage design. On a platform toward the rear of the stage is a set that represents every locale within the Orient Express, the train’s bar and dining area, its passenger compartments, and the narrow corridor connecting it all together. There’s a lot to like about this set, it’s not overly complicated, but it’s detailed. It gives enough for the actors to work with, but not to much that the stage feels crowded. Walls between the passenger compartments aren’t physically there, though the actors still portray them as such, they’re more implied than anything. Further, the narrow passageway truly represents what it is like to navigate through a train like this, even in first class. It’s tight quarters, and necessary for one to give way to another when passing in the hall. That corridor also makes for one of the classiest scenes in the show, near the end of Act 2 when Poirot asks everyone to meet in the dining area for what is his typical group interrogation, Poirot can be seen, in shadow, traversing that corridor. It’s an excellent piece of stage craft and it’s bookended with his exit through the same corridor at the conclusion of the piece. The set, conceived by Jeffrey and designed by Gary Fetterplace, is rife with detail, the varied colors and fabric bring it all together to really make this work, and since every location is already on stage, scene changes are a matter of turning lights down on one area of the stage and bringing them up on another. With short gaps between, the feel is more like a series of vignettes than a steady flow from one scene to the next, and that’s a nice experience. It’s also where the chemistry among this cast comes in. Presenting scenes in this manner could slow things down, but when the actors are on stage, their ability to deliver lines at pace and with fluidity makes any gaps barely noticeable.

Much of the storytelling here relies not just on the actors, but on the creative and technical folks as well. Dale Borer’s lighting provides a suspenseful undercurrent, while Kevin Matthew’s sound work is crucial to delivering the perfectly timed gunshot or scream. Additionally, Kristin Bradberry’s costumes are very well done. The show also relies on flashbacks, done through vocal recordings recorded by the actors with the assistance of Matt Haver. It’s key to make sure that look backs mirror the scenes themselves, and these all do. It’s a show that has a lot going for it, and as a result is fun to watch.

Nobody does Agatha Christie like Jeffrey Bassett, and if the Bremerton Community Theatre production of Murder on the Orient Express is any indication, he hasn’t lost his touch. A fantastic and funny group of actors led by Adrian DeGroot as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, bring this classic to life in a production that marries acting, lighting, sound, and a wonderfully crafted set to tell a story that will satisfy even the most experienced fan of the “Queen of Crime”.

Murder on the Orient Express runs on stage at Bremerton Community Theatre through June 25. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.bctshows.com/.

Photo credit: Kathy Berg